There has been a silk road between China and the Americas for centuries. It is called the Pacific. China has been trying to figure out how to lay claim on parts of the arctic for quite a while. This seems to me to be part of that effort.

“The further a society drifts from truth the more it will hate those who speak it.” … George Orwell

There has been a silk road between China and the Americas for centuries. It is called the Pacific. China has been trying to figure out how to lay claim on parts of the arctic for quite a while. This seems to me to be part of that effort.

Somehow, I do not believe that the PRC would try to build artificial islands in the Arctic Sea the way they have in the South China Sea and them spuriously claim sovereignty over them and the surrounding waters.

Doc, I am not in sympathy with their ambitions, but like all other people's the Chinese are informed and guided by their own historical experience; and theirs is a very long one. Prominent in the collective memory of the Chinese and throbbing like a septic wound is their memory of their "century of humiliation"; largely inflicted upon their nation by foreign powers - beginning with the First Opium War in 1839-40. The PRC now seeks atonement by restoring itself to what it considers to be its rightful place within the context of global power. Its recent beligerence can and should be seen in that context.

There has been a silk road between China and the Americas for centuries. It is called the Pacific. China has been trying to figure out how to lay claim on parts of the arctic for quite a while. This seems to me to be part of that effort.

Somehow, I do not believe that the PRC would try to build artificial islands in the Arctic Sea the way they have in the South China Sea and them spuriously claim sovereignty over them and the surrounding waters.

Doc, I am not in sympathy with their ambitions, but like all other people's the Chinese are informed and guided by their own historical experience; and theirs is a very long one. Prominent in the collective memory of the Chinese and throbbing like a septic wound is their memory of their "century of humiliation"; largely inflicted upon their nation by foreign powers - beginning with the First Opium War in 1839-40. The PRC now seeks atonement by restoring itself to what it considers to be its rightful place within the context of global power. Its recent beligerence can and should be seen in that context.

As with the South "China" Sea the Chinese are trying to get a wedge under the door.

China's first move is to claim that "the Arctic situation now goes beyond its original inter-Arctic States or regional nature." The Arctic is no longer just a "region." It's a situation, and situations demand responses. Furthermore, the Arctic has a vital bearing on "the survival, the development, and the shared future for mankind." Those are some pretty big stakes, but China is up to the task.

That's because China emphasizes that it is "a champion for the development of a community with a shared future for mankind." The globally-minded country (implicitly in contrast to the selfish "America First") is "an active participant, builder and contributor in Arctic affairs who has spared no efforts to contribute its wisdom to the development of the Arctic region." China sees itself as basically shouldering a whole lot of responsibility to improve the Arctic. If the North ever needed a superhero, it has one now in Beijing. The Arctic is now a situation that demands a response, and responses only come from responsible actors. China makes the case that it is one. It didn't back out of the Paris Agreement, in any case, so it can probably be trusted more than America.

Never mind that CHina's behavior in the SOuth China Sea is completely contrary to the argument they are making now about the Arctic Ocean

“The further a society drifts from truth the more it will hate those who speak it.” … George Orwell

"China wants to develop resources lawfully, and it also seeks to develop three Arctic shipping passages (along Russia, Canada, and over the top of the North Pole). Slyly, it never refers to the first two passages as the Northern Sea Route or the Northwest Passage as they're more commonly known."

China is not the only country that could get into the game of developing shipping passages over the Arctic Sea. There is likely to be a rush of maritime countries in the northern hemisphere doing the same if the route proves to be viable.

What no one has mentioned is that the Arctic ice is shrinking because of global warming. That will likely have other unwonted consequences elsewhere that are likely to more than cancel out the economic benefits of such a new shipping route.

China is not the only country that could get into the game of developing shipping passages over the Arctic Sea. There is likely to be a rush of maritime countries in the northern hemisphere doing the same if the route proves to be viable.

What no one has mentioned is that the Arctic ice is shrinking because of global warming. That will likely have other unwonted consequences elsewhere that are likely to more than cancel out the economic benefits of such a new shipping route.

I don't think anyone is saying that climate change is great because it opens up the Northwest Passage -- other than the Russians behind closed doors, maybe, and if they are I scarcely blame them.

But globally the thrust of the response to climate change seems to be passing from trying to stop it to trying to adapt to it, and in that sense, developing shorter shipping routes makes sense.

Writer, technologist, educator, gadfly.
President of New World University: http://newworld.ac